When arriving at the new One Kings Lane showroom in New Canaan, Connecticut, you might wonder whether you have the right address. Located on a quiet, rolling road north of the town center, it looks like a typical New England cedar shingle house. Step inside, and the homelike feeling is reinforced—the rooms are thoughtfully decorated and there are no obvious product displays.

Indeed, it is someone’s home—One Kings Lane president Debbie Propst lives there with her family. But the public areas have been designed by the company’s in-house design service using products from its website; designers stand by for consultations with clients; and it is fully open to the public for drop-ins through April 7, and then by appointment.

The kitchen of One Kings Lane President Debbie Propst's New Canaan, Connecticut, home, which will also serve as a showroom for her company.

Photo: Courtesy of One Kings Lane

“We can show furnishings in context and how to really live with the pieces,” says Propst. “And we can showcase the breadth of One Kings Lane’s capabilities, from a stylistic perspective.” If it’s a hit, she adds, the company plans to open similar showrooms in other cities.

It is perhaps the most extreme example of a trend now sweeping home design showrooms—crafting cohesive interiors with a curated, residential feel and encouraging customers to linger rather than presenting piles of product. In the face of rising online sales, the hope is that these inviting showrooms give people more reason to actually visit a physical space in order to gain a more holistic understanding of a brand.

“There’s something more intimate about walking into a shopping space where you’re handed a glass of wine—you’re already experiencing the product in a way that seems natural,” says Rachel Cohen, cofounder of Snowe, a retailer of high-quality home basics including glassware, dinnerware, and bedding, which started online and recently opened The Whitespace, a pared-down apartment-like showroom in Manhattan’s Union Square.

Showe's Whitespace has a wholly lived-in feel.

Photo: Courtesy of Snowe

“Part of our value as a brand is that we’ve edited down the assortment of products and have eliminated the paradox of choice that’s now so rampant in the world,” says Andres Modak, Snowe’s other cofounder. “Being able to show one red wine glass in a context that’s approachable, and allowing you to use it, adds all kinds of value when compared with being stacked on a shelf, where it feels much more commoditized.” There is no inventory on site. Customers who want to buy the pieces order for home delivery.

The Italian furniture company Poliform aimed to address similar issues when it opened its flagship store on New York’s Madison Avenue last year, with a main floor resembling an expansive apartment, including kitchens and walk-in closets (a more traditional presentation of products is located downstairs). “Poliform sells almost everything for the home, including kitchens, closets, bookshelves, sofas, tables, and lights,” says Laura Anzani, chief operating officer of Poliform USA. “Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming for our clients, both trade and retail. So our strategy was to sell a lifestyle instead of selling furniture.” To give people even more reason to visit, Poliform is also using the showroom to host art, fashion, and food events.

Poliform's Manhattan showroom includes working kitchens that play host to a number of events.

The trendsetting New York design store The Future Perfect embraced a similar approach when it opened a Los Angeles outpost earlier this year called Casa Perfect, a fully furnished house open by appointment rather than a traditional storefront. At Carl Hansen & Son’s new Manhattan showroom, designers are invited to hang out and indulge at a fully functional kitchen or peruse sample books in the meeting room.

The goal is to make shopping a joy, says Andrea Dorigo, president and CEO of Pirch, an early proponent of experience-based shopping whose upscale chain of kitchen and bath showrooms allow people to try products by cooking a meal or taking a shower. “We want to be that special place where discerning customers meet amazing products in a way that's experiential,” he says. “You can see appliances in action. ﻿You can be here for as long as you want. We’ll even cook you lunch.”

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